Blueline Report

Pittsburgh 2 – Boston 1 The Penguins spoiled the Bruins home opener behind a strong performance from Dany Sabourin who made 35 saves. Bruins forward Phil Kessel netted his 5th goal of the season and is developing into a top 6 winger. Would the Penguins have been better off drafting Phil Kessel or Jonathan Toews over Jordan Staal? Read more for the latest inside buzz on how close the Penguins were to selecting Kessel or Toews; plus a update on the Penguins plans for Janne Pesonen.

Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Dany Sabourin turned away 35 shots and Evgeni Malkin scored in the second extra round of the shootout to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 2-1 win over Boston on Monday night. Malkin the NHL‚Äôs leading scorer in the early season assisted on Miroslav Satan‚Äôs first period goal. Pittsburgh led 1-0 mid way through the second period until Bruins forward Phil Kessel scored his 5th goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1. Tied at 1-1 after 65 minutes of play the game went to a shootout and Phil Kessel scored on Boston’s first shootout attempt and Petr Sykora tied it on the Penguins’ second shootout attempt. In the second extra round of the shootout it was Evgeni Malkin vs Marc Savard. Malkin scored with a quick shot inside the left post and Saboruin stopped Savard giving the Penguins a 2-1 win. Pittsburgh (4-2-1) hostRead More »

The GM meetings will be held in Chicago on Thursday. Marian Gaborik will be at the forefront with the Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers, expressing significant interest. While the Canadiens have been mentioned as the early front runner in the Gaborik sweepstakes, the Rangers are a team to keep an eye on. The Rangers have been exploring the trade market for center Chris Drury and are currently in the market for a elite top line winger. Marian Gaborik fits the bill and expect Glen Sather and Doug Risebrough to discuss a deal centered around Drury/roster player/drafts picks for Gaborik. What else to look for The Chicago Blackhawks remain the market for a second line center and a defenseman. Talks between the Blackhawks and Sharks are expected to heat up. The Hawks have expressed an interest in Sharks D Kyle McLaren The Washington Capitals will continue to gauge tradeRead More »

10/20/08 @Boston Bruins (2-1-1) The Bruins have the started the season with four straight road games and host the Penguins on Monday for their home opener. Boston is coming off a 4-2 win against the Ottawa Senators. Marc Savard is off to a solid start and leads the Bruins with 9 points in four games. RW Phil Kessel who has been the subject of trade rumors throughout the summer is second on the team with four goals. Kessel scored two goals in the Bruins win Saturday night. The Bruins struggled to score goals last season but they are a much better offensive team this season with a healthy Patrice Bergeron. Forward Chuck Kobasew (22 goals last season) is currently on the shelf with a fractured right ankle. Player to Watch RW Michael Ryder (1goal ‚Äì 4 assists ‚Äì 5 points) With Kobasew out of the lineup the pressure is onRead More »

Pittsburgh is coming off of a 4-3 loss to the Washington Capitals. The Penguins blew a three goal lead and were outshot, 21-6, in the third period. The Penguins have scored only five goals in 5-on-5 situations in as many games.The Maple Leafs lost to the New York Rangers Friday night 1-0 in a shootout. The Leafs are struggling to score goals and only have 8 goals in four games Penguins projected Lineup Dupuis – Crosby – Malkin Fedotenko-Staal-Sykora Satan-Talbot-Kennedy Bissonnette-Zigomanis-Godard D-Pairings Orpik – Letang Gill – Scuderi Goligoski – Eaton Marc Andre Fleury will start in goal Matt Cooke did not practice yesterday and is expected to sit out for the second consecutive game. Michel Therrien has re-united Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Penguins beat Flyers 3-2 The Penguins rebounded Tuesday night and got a much needed win against the Philadelphia Flyers. They played better but they are not out of the woods just yet Pascal Dupuis was moved up to the 1st line and performed well. Dupuis led the Penguins with five shots and blistered a slap shot from the left circle to score the Penguins game winner in OT The Penguins at times controlled the play especially for a few shifts in the middle of the second period. Dupuis had three great chances on a shift early in the second and the Penguins could have pulled away but they didn‚Äôt. The Penguins did not clean up their own end well. On the Flyers first goal the Penguins had two opportunities to get the puck out of their zone and failed to do so which led to Jeff Carters goal. 21 secondsRead More »

This is the first of six regular season meetings between the Penguins and Flyers in 2008-09. The Flyers lead the all-time series with a 130-73-30-3 record in 236 games, including a 42-53-22-1 record on the road. Both teams have struggled out of the gate and will look to get back on track tonight. The Flyers are coming off a 5-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens Monday night. The Flyers have received subpar goaltending from Marty Biron who has surrendered eight goals in less than four periods. Biron will serve as the Flyers backup tonight as Antero Niitymaki will start. The Penguins are coming off a 2-1 OT loss to the New Jersey Devils. The Penguins were outplayed in all facets of the game and were outshot by the Devils 49-15. A bright spot for the Penguins in this young season has been the play of Marc Andre Fleury. Fleury isRead More »

Trade Buzz: Thursday’s 1-for-1 trade of young underperforming players saw the Minnesota Wild acquire center Victor Rask from the Carolina Hurricanes for left winger Nino Niederreiter. Carolina did an excellent job of being able to get out of the Rask contract, who has three years remaining with a $4 million cap hit. Rask has 1 goal, 5 assists on the season, mirrored in a 22-game goal drought. The logic here for Minnesota is taking the chance on a playmaking center who can help fill a top-9 spot longer term if the Wild move on from Eric Staal. Minnesota is also playing the card that a change of scenery will benefit the 24-year old who posted a career-high 21 goals, 48 points in 2015-2016.

Niederreiter’s trade value was stunted because of his contract, where he has three years left on his deal with a $5.25 million cap hit. Niederreiter is a player who is extremely hard to play against, drives possession well, and has three 20 goal seasons over his last four full seasons. Injuries (18 goals in 63 games) kept him from a 4th straight 20-goal season in 17-18. The Niederreiter acquisition also sets up as great insurance for the Hurricanes if they can’t resign Micheal Ferland. In the short-term, Carolina’s center situation is a mess with Jordan Staal sidelined with a concussion, but they’re getting the better player who fits the identity they’re trying to establish upfront, especially on the wings where they’ve identified the need for Patric Hornqvist type players.